Sawmill incident sends important message: Lock-out or lookout

An incident at a Nelson sawmill that left a worker with a crushed foot holds important lessons for people operating industrial machinery everywhere, says the Department of Labour.

The Department’s Nelson Service Manager Annette Baxter says a Goldpine Industries worker could have avoided serious injury had he “locked-out” the machine he was working on. Locking out a machine is when a worker makes a machine inoperable by disengaging a master switch or key, that only they can control.

On 23 July the employee was putting logs through an optimiser before sawing them. Logs go through an optimiser on a conveyer belt and are scanned by a computer which calculates the saw cuts needed to maximise the timber taken from any particular log. Once the logs are scanned there are arms (kickers) which automatically push the logs off the conveyor onto a lower belt which takes them through the saw.

The employee turned the conveyor belt off as he went to cut two lengths of wood from the log. He stepped over the 'kicker' and as it returned to its closed position it jammed his right foot crushing it, breaking bones in his foot.

“The worker had turned off the belt, but had failed to lock-out the hydraulic system that activated the kickers,” says Ms Baxter. “If he had removed the master key from the operators panel both the conveyor and kickers would have been rendered in-operable and he would have remained safe.”

She says the company has discussed with staff the importance of locking-out machines, which is company policy. The employee has acknowledged that he should have locked the machine out and in these circumstances the Department will not be taking a prosecution.

Ms Baxter says the case offers important lessons for people operating industrial machinery: “Locking-out a machine means that there is no chance that it can start up again, whether on its own accord or by somebody else. That’s when a worker can have confidence the machine is safe.

“With large machinery where individuals or a number of service personnel have to work on or inside machinery and they may be out of sight of other people in the place of work, lock-out devices should be used. This system ensures that all people who are at risk of the machine being accidentally restarted should be out of the danger area before it is started.”

Ms Baxter says lock-out devices should be used in conjunction with hold cards and isolation, to improve safety. Before any work is carried out on machinery it should be isolated from its power source.

Along with isolation, hold cards should be attached to the power controls of machinery under repair, to reduce the likelihood that the machinery is inadvertently started. These cards should clearly state that under no circumstances should the machinery be connected to the power source or be started until the hold card is removed by the person named on the hold card.

“These are all quite simple steps that workers can take responsibility for, that will help ensure their safety,” says Ms Baxter. “Employers should supply and encourage their workers to use lock-out devices, hold cards, and isolation, because accidents can have horrendous consequences to individuals and to the bottom line of any business, through lost production.”

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